Deep Brain Stimulation for Neurological Disorders

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) involves the delivery of precise electrical signals to specific deep anatomical structures of the central nervous system, with the objective of altering or modulating neural functioning and achieving a reversible, adjustable and therapeutic or clinically beneficial effect. The exact mechanism of action of DBS is still the subject of ongoing investigations. However, based on extensive clinical investigations, it has become an established modality for the surgical treatment of advanced and medication intractable movement disorders such as Parkinson´s disease, essential tremor and dystonia. DBS is also being investigated for conditions such as intractable epilepsy, neurobehavioral and psychiatric disorders such as treatment resistant depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, addiction, obesity, Alzheimer´s disease and traumatic brain injury. The advantage of DBS over older deep brain lesioning procedures is its reversibility and adjustability. The design of the DBS systems allows for dynamic adjustment of the effects of electrical stimulation by altering the contacts at which electrical pulses are delivered to the brain and changing the stimulation parameters of those pulses. The clinical results from studies on DBS show that it has great potential making it one of most promising fields which could be used to address challenging neurological problems.